News Animals

Mosquitoes get the ‘I’m full’ signal from their butts, not their brains

Chemicals released from the rectum control the insects’ appetite

An Aedes aegypti mosquito with blood in its belly

When an Aedes aegypti mosquito feeds on blood, its rectum cells signal when to stop biting.

Joao Paulo Burini/Moment/Getty Images

By Jake Buehler

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